Action of pianofortes and mode of giving stability to such instruments



T. LOUD.

. Piano Forte. v NO. 504. Ptented Dec. 7,1837.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS LOUD, OF PHILADELPI-IIA, IENNSYLVANIA.

AC'IION OF PIANOFORTES AND MODE OF GIVING STABILITY '10 SUOI-IINS'IRU'MENTS.

Specfication of Lettere Patent No. 504:, dated December '7, 1837.

T0 all 107mm zt may concern Be t known that I, THOMAS LOUD, of the cityof Phladelphia, in tbe State of Pennsylvania, have nvented certanimpreve- 1nents in pianofortes, whcb mprovernents consst, first, in whatI denominate the front-mo-tion grand action, wth front regn- Iation;second, in the back-motion grand action, with front regulaton; thrd, inthe metallc supportng-brace in tunngpns or long bocks, and, fourth, inthe detached metallic plate, of whch several improvernents in the actionand in the mode of gvng stabty to the nstrument under the great degreeof tcnson to which t s subjected, and consequently causng it to keep intunc more perfectly than ordinary, I do hereby declare that the followngs a full and exact descrption.

In the accmnpanying drawing, Figure 1, represents the front motion grandacton, with the front regulaton, tbe respective parts of which areponted out by the following numerals.

References to Fig. 1: 1, the key; 2, the jack or grasshopper, attachedto che key and that lfts the hannner when the key s struck; thefrontupper part moved, while the back standard s permanent; 3, theregulatng screw, wth nuts on the screw'; 4, the ham- 1ner b1ock, to Whhs attached the harnmer shank and hannner head whicb strikes the strings;5, the center of ham1ner block; 6,

the capsule, in whch the center of the bammer 1noves; 7, tbe strng; 8,che check, to catch the hannner head after it has struck the string; 9,the spring of the jack.

My mpro-vement in the front motion grand acton with front regulaton, conssts in the applying the jack or grasshopper (whch lfts the hannner andis attached to the key) at once to the block of the hammer, without theuse of the second or under baxnrner, the jack havng a front motion; thats to say, the movable part of the jack, after t has taken the hannner tothe string, passes, or releves from it, by a front moton and toward thecenter of the ham1ner, nstead of passng back, and away from the centerof the han1mer, whch s the common mode in grand actions, and also in themethod of regulaton of the jack, whch is arranged with the regulatxwscrew passng from the front through aoose hole in its movable part, andscrewed into the permanent standard at the back; the regulatng screw hastwo nuts on it, one front and one back of the rnowable part of the jack.The spring of the jack kceps t firrnly against the harn1ner block, andby screwng the regalatng screw, in or out, the nut at the back of themovable part of the jack is made to force forward the front of jack, soas to pass or releve it off from the ha1nmer block, at the exact pointof the barnmer heads touchng the string. be nut in front of the movablepartof the jack is placed at a dstance from it, say, of one fourth of annch, and s used as a guard to prevent the point of the jack flyng offtoo far from the harn1ner block when a severe blow is struck-theregulation of the jack is from the front, and it can therefore beregulated when the acton s in its place in the instrument-as in theordinary jack of the Englsh action where the under harnmer is used. Theoperations and movernents as well as 1nethod of r-e ulat-on of rny frontmotion grand action Wth front regulation is fully exemplified in thedraW- ng with the numerals referring thereto. The mprovement claimed andwshed to be secured by Letters Patent, in ths modification of the acton,is-

The application of the jack or grasshopper mrnediately to the hammerblock, With a front motion, or toward the center of the hannner;together with the front regulation of the jack or grasshopper, when thejack s thus appled at once to the harnmer block.

Fi 2, shows the manner in whch I effect 1ny second i1nprovement in tbeacton, denominated by me the back moton grand action, With frontregulaton. The back moton grand action, as usually made, s regulated bytaking the action out of the nstrument, and turning the regulating pns,or screws, which are placed perpendicularly over the projectng arm ofthe jack whch s a part of it; the screw and arm are not in sight, andare not capable of being regnlated from the front. ho followingreferences and descripton Will fully exernplify the po-nts of dfferencebetween ths back hannner head Whch strkes the string; 7, the center ofhammer block; 8, the capsule, in whch the center of the ha1n1ner 1noves;9, the string; 10, the check, to catch the hannner head after t hasstruck the string;

11, the permanent rail, (clothed) against which the relieving leverstrikes, in its motion in takng the hannner to the string; 12, thespring of jack.

My 1nprovcment in the back 1notion grand acton, Wth front regulation,consists in attachng to the front or 1novable part of the jack orgrasshopper, that strikes the hannner block, an addtional 1novablelever, called a relevng lever With an arm or projecton( whch is at rightangles from its center) passng under a clotned per1nanent rai1, '1t sattached to the front of the jack by a regulatng screw passng through aloose hole in front of jack, and screwed into the relievng lever fromthe front. The relevng lever is kept firrn to the front of the jack bytwo nuts screwed on to the re ulating screw, one front and one backoft1e front ofjack. The regulatng screw, by screwng in Or out, regulatesthe point at whch the hannner s perrntted to fall, by rasng ordepressing the back ar1n of the relieving lever, Whch passes under theclothed permanent ral, so that as the key rses, the jack is struck offro1n thehan1- 1ner, sooner Or later, as may be necessary. Anothermportant improvement in the use of the relevng lever, is, that the jack,by ths arrangement, is regulated frena the front of the instrument, whenthe acton is in its place in the pianoforte, ths acton is called backmotion grand acton because, When the movable part of the jack has takenthe ha1nmer to the string, it passes or releves from the ha1nn1er by aback moton, or from the center of the hannner. Its operatons andmovements as well as the n1ethod of regulatng it are fu]1y exemplfed inthe above named drawng, Fig. 2, wth the references thereto. Themprovement clai1ned in ths modficaton of the action and wshed to besecured by Letters Patent, s

The releving lever of the jack, in the back moton grand action of apiano forte; whch releving lever, ether centered in the front part ofthe jack, or not, is attached to the front or movable part of the block,to which the 1netallic supporting brace s attached; 3, the points ofsupport to the points of tnbes or braces, or lnetallc plate, andmadeusually with a projectng part in the casting 1et in, down the frontof the block, and fastened Wth a screw; 4L, projectng part of thecastng, made in notches, and lei; in and screwed to the front of longblock, to secure the lowest point of support;

5, tunng pns in long block to whch the stringe are attached; 6, bridgeon long block, upon whch the string rcsts, and for1n the vibratingpoint; 7, 1netallc p1ate, to whch the end of strng s fastened; 8, bracesor tubes for supporting the 1netallc plate.

My 1netallc brace as applied to piano fortes consists of a band of metal(nsually cast iron) of about three eighths of an nch in thickness, andvarying from three fonrths of an inch, to two and a balf nches in Wdth,which s inserted into the long, or tnnng pin, block; there bengprojectng parts of the castng, whch pass down, and are 1et into thefront part of the block, and are firnfly screwed to it, at the severalpoints of support, ether between the tunng pns and the bridge on sadblock, or on the outer side of the tunng pins, followng the Whole, orpart of the whole line of tnnng pns, and aganst which the treble end ofthe detached metallic plate, to be presently described, as well as thebrace, or braces, that support the metallc p1ate, s attached orsupported; and also aganst which, in my patent compensaton tube pianofortes, one end of each tube s attached, nserted, or supported. For adescrption of which compensaton tubes I refer to the Letters Patent ofthe United States granted to me therefor. The great value of thssupportng brace, s ts givng an unchangeable support to the various pontsthat support the metallc plate to which the ends of the stringe. areattached, and in taking the strain arsng frorn the tension of thestringe off from the case, or wooden part of the piano forte.

What I claim as my improvement, and wsh to have secured by LettersPatent, in what I denominate my metallc supportng brace, s

The nsertng, or attaching of a continuous 1netallc band or brace, calledthe metallc supporting brace in the tunng pins, or long block, of pianofortes, to forno supports to the metallc plate, by braces, tubes, orotherwse for more than one point of its strain, the sad supportng bracebeing contnuous, ether in one or more peces, and beng placed in, orattached to, the tunng pin or 1ong block to receve the strain from the1netallc plate arsng from the tension of the springs, ether by itstouchng the plate, or by braces or tubes attached to it, in the manner,or upon the prnciple herei fully made knoWn.

F g. 4. shows my fourth rnprovement, eonsstng of the cletached metallcplate, together wth its connection ancl combination With the other partsof the instrument.

References to Fg. 4: 1, the front of the instrument; 2, the back of theinstrument; 3, the long, or rest pn block; 4, the detachecl metalloplate; 5, the places where the screvvs are nsertecl, to hold the platelevel; 6, the wooden pin, upon whch the plate rests; 7, a projectng peceof the castng on the uncler 'scle of plate, at the place of attaohmentat the treble or back of the instrument, to the long, or rest pn block;8, a projectng pece of castng on the upper side of plate, at the placeof attachment at the bass or front of nstrument, to the wooden brace; 9,the attachment at the projeoting bend of. plate, to the metal brace; 10,castng inserted in the uncler sicle of wooclen brace, to meet theprojecton on the plate at 8; 11, the end of case, or nstrument; 12, thewooden brace; 13, the metallic brace; 14 the metallic supportng brace.

My 1II1PIOVGIHBII denominated tl1e detachecl metallic plate consiste inthe plate (whch in my nstruments s of cast ron) being cletached (exceptat the tWo ends of the plate) from the back ancl end of the piano fortecase nsteacl of fillng the corner as is commonly clone; ts inner edgefollowing the line of the pins to whch the strngs are fastenecl on theplate on the outer edge, formng a band of the requrecl shape, varyng inwclth from three to eight nches, thereby reclucng the quantty of metal,and exposing more of the sound board.

The detachecl metallc plate is screwecl at the tWo ends to the pnblocks', to Whch the sound board s fastenecl, to preserva ts level withthe brdges, and it also rests upon a wooclen pin (insertecl in thebottom of the nstrument) in the bencl near the center of the plate; thestran of the strngs s supported by attachug it at the treble or back ofthe nstrument, aganst the tunng pin, or long block, or castngs, nserteclin the block, ancl at the bass, or front part of' nstrument, aganst thewooclen brace, or a metal cast-ng nsertecl in it,-ancl in the center ofplate, by one or more metal braces, Wth or wthout hardenecl steel ponts;wheh braces rest aganst the plate, ancl against my metallc supportngbrace, insertecl in the tunng or rest pn block, but vvthout any sde orlateral supports.

The great value ofthe detaohed metallic plate, conssts in the reductionof the metal in wclth, to a narrow band, nstead 0f fill- 111g up thecorner of the nstrument, and thereby avoclng the oontracton anclexpansion of the larga plate, whch is always against the string.

The mprovement claimecl ancl wishel to be seourecl by Letters Patent, inthe detachecl metallio plate, is-

The detaching the plate from the back and end of the case, except at theends of plate, where t s sorewed to keep it level.

TI-IOMAS LOU D.

Wtnesses:

J OSEPI-I R. BRYAN, THOMAS C. LOUD.

